Rare Disease Day Feb 28 - Honoring 300M People Worldwide

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 17:05:36 -0500
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Join ADS and Student Disability Services and campus partner UMBC Sustainability to celebrate and honor Rare Disease Day on February 28th.

Check out Accessibility Matters' Awareness Page with Contest Details here! (link)

What is Rare Disease Day?

Rare Disease Day is the globally-coordinated movement on rare diseases, working towards equity in social opportunity, healthcare, and access to diagnosis and therapies for people living with a rare disease.

Since its creation in 2008, Rare Disease Day has played a critical part in building an international community that is multi-disease, global, and diverse– but united in purpose. Rare Disease Day is observed every year on 28 February (or 29 in leap years)—the rarest day of the year. Rare Disease Day provides an energy and focal point that enables rare diseases advocacy work to progress on the local, national and international levels.

Though Rare Disease Day is led by the people with these health conditions, everyone, including families and friends, healthcare professionals, researchers, policy makers, and the general public, can participate in raising awareness and taking action to raise awareness.

By Sharing your colors via social media here (link), by sharing experiences online and with friends, by calling on elected officials and shining the light on the experience of people living with a rare disease, we can change to world for the better. These improvements are not only for the 300 million people worldwide, but shape health and wellness far into the future.

UMBC's Sustainability Matters group is a partner with this cause because the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action to recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. UMBC is a community, and partnership is how we continue to end stigma and accept the diversity of health experiences and abilities among our networked communities.

Rare Diseases affect people at UMBC. Campus resources include:

Student Disability Services - for undergraduate and graduate students)

Accessibility & Disability Services - for employee on-the-job accommodations including faculty, staff and student workers

Human Resources - for employee information on benefits, leave (including FMLA), EAP counseling, and the Wellness Initiative

Retriever Integrated Health for navigating health matters and a range of student supports, including mental health

The zebra has become the official symbol of rare diseases in the United States. In honor of our shared mascot we wear striped clothing and accessories to show our support of those lives impacted by a rare disease. Additionally, many wearing blue denim genes (aka jeans) to show support. If you are looking for selfie flair on February 28th, ADS has zebra origami hearts in the reception area (near room 212) on the second floor of the Math-Psychology Building.

A closeup photo of a zebra facing the camera accompanies this post.